I keep seeing these Hillary Clinton supporters on TV who say they are so disillusioned and disappointed, they’re going to vote for John McCain. They even have their own website: http://hcsfjm.com/

“The media is sexist!” they cry. “Obama is sexist!” they scream. “We’re voting for McCain!” they announce.

Are you kidding me?

Okay, first, let me say, I was all Hillary when this whole thing started. Seriously. I sent her campaign money. I got the bumper sticker. I wore the button. But when the primary got to my little ‘ol state of Indiana, things had changed. I was more than a little concerned about the idea of two families having ruled this nation for 20 years. And the whole gas tax thing was stupid. I voted for Obama. Believe me, I surprised myself.

So now, here we are. At last, the Democratic primaries are over, and we have a candidate. A darn good candidate. Sure, he’s not the most experienced candidate ever, and that was a source of concern for me. After reading a wonderfully enlightening article in Time magazine, however, I realized experience is highly overrated. Some of our nation’s least experienced candidates have made powerful presidents – most notably, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Our most experienced candidate? James Buchanan, who is considered by many historians to be the worst president ever.

Obama’s reason and eloquence appeal to me. The consistency of his voting record, particularly on the Iraq War, is also impressive. And his affection for and protection of his wife Michelle strike me as particularly admirable. Here’s a man who has bucked some very tough odds to become this country’s first African-American major party candidate for president. He’s smart, charming, exciting and interesting.

But these bitter Hillary supporters want to send a message so they’re going to vote for McCain.

The John McCain who married a swimsuit model who stood by him through thick and thin. The John McCain who, while he was a prisoner in Vietnam, never knew his first wife was in a horribly debilitating accident because she wouldn’t let anyone tell him because he had enough to deal with as a POW. The John McCain who, after this wife waited faithfully for him to return from war, was unhappy to find her disabled, overweight and shorter. The John McCain who cheated on his wife with an heiress. The John McCain who then divorced the former swimsuit model to marry the heiress almost twenty years his junior.

So they’re going to vote for this man to make a statement against sexism. Brilliant.

I agree that the media was disgusting in its treatment of Hillary. Punish the media. Go for it. Stop buying their papers. Stop watching their broadcasts. But for heaven’s sake, don’t punish yourselves and your fellow Americans by putting another stinking Republican in the White House. Talk about cutting off your own nose to spite your face.

Please, folks, re-consider and listen to what Hillary’s saying. Vote for some change. Don’t give in to your own bitterness and disappointment. I cried during both speeches last Tuesday night. It seemed so unfair that we had two such fantastic candidates, and one of them had to go. Hillary Clinton’s time is not over, though. I believe, and hope most ardently, that she’ll be back.

In the meantime, though, do we have to “make a statement” by submitting ourselves to another four years of Republican ridiculousness?

Are we allowed to call it a recession yet?

President Bush and his administration certainly don’t think so. Fox News isn’t calling it that yet. But I’m one of those people who believe that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, you really ought to call it a duck!

Not being an economist, though, I defer to those with far more expertise, such as the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a century-old nonpartisan group employing sixteen winners of the Nobel Prize for economics. The NBER defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales” (NBER.org, 2003).

Okay, so GDP or gross domestic product is determined by: GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports). I’ll be really honest here: I don’t understand much of that. I do know that our stock market is in a shambles right now, though. My husband’s 401(k) has been cut almost in half, and he finally yanked it out of stocks and put all of it into bonds. That sounds like an investment problem to me. I’m sure government spending’s still through the roof as it has been for the entire Bush administration, but it doesn’t appear to be enough to rock that formula. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that our trade deficit increased for the second straight month, and even the most optimistic analysts are starting to waiver a bit (Associated Press, 4/11/08).

Alright, so how about “real income?” Real income is defined as “income of an individual or group after taking into consideration the effects of inflation on purchasing power” (financial-dictionary/thefreedictionary.com). According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Inflation is a global phenomenon this year” (4/11/08). No kidding. My husband got a 3% raise last month; his company, United Health Group, had capped all raises at 3% even though they made a profit of about $6 billion last year. The 3% raise will cover our gas to get to and from work each month.

Employment? Good news there? Again, I’m not an economist. Government officials and the media play fast and loose with unemployment statistics; one person says they’re up, and another says they’re down. Here’s what I do know: ATA closed its doors last week. Frontier Airlines just filed for bankruptcy. General Motors is closing several of its plants; Chrysler is idling some its plants and forcing employees to take vacation time. Sprint is laying off 4,000 of its employees. Those are some big companies getting rid of a lot of jobs. It doesn’t sound good.

I’m not even going to touch industrial production since I have no idea what that means!

Retail sales, though, I understand, having worked in retail for over 10 years. According to the national retailers’ reports, sales were down .5% in March, reaching their lowest point in 13 years (The Record, 4/11/08). The holidays weren’t great for retailers either. From my many students and friends who currently work in retail, I can tell you most stores weren’t hitting their sales goals. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, holiday sales for shopping malls in 2007 were the weakest in 11 years.

I was surprised that housing sales weren’t included in the recession definition. To me, housing seems like a logical element to affect the country’s economic health. Everyone knows the housing market and mortgage industry are in a huge mess. The house next door is in foreclosure; my neighbors packed up and left in the middle of the night. My former boss had to transfer to Alabama, and she and her husband lost tens of thousands of dollars on their home.

But even without the housing data, the nation is OBVIOUSLY in a recession. Consumers already know it which is why consumer confidence is at a 26-year low (Reuters, 4/11/08). Why can’t we just call it what it is? I guess using the actual word would be an admission that the old Republican economic policies just don’t work. Surely I am not the only one who recognizes that after several years of Republican economics, our country always ends up in a recession?

Many of my conservative friends and family members refuse to believe we’re in a recession. They are, generally, well off and lucky enough not to have been directly affected yet. They haven’t lost their jobs, their homes, or much of their disposable income. I’m happy for them; really, I am. But just because you’re not hungry doesn’t mean everyone around you isn’t starving to death. The Marie Antoinette act is getting old, folks.

Christmas used to be my favorite holiday.  Nowadays, I think it’s so commercialized, it’s hard to enjoy it. So I find it strange that conservative Christians get upset that Christ isn’t in more stores, schools, and government offices. Every year around this time, the Spanish Inquisition is renewed. The Christian Right gets all upset about “the attack on Christmas,” and TV pundits, radio heads, bloggers and e-mailers start insisting that EVERYONE should celebrate Christmas and do it properly. Talk about insensitive ethnocentricity.

I’m a Christian, and I love my Christmas. But I have friends who aren’t Christians. I’m not going to shove my religion in their faces. I don’t want them to shove their religion in mine. They don’t anyway, so I’m not sure why my fellow Christians on the right get so upset. “The attack on Christmas” is fiction.

Still, the e-mails keep coming. Here is a poem I received this morning:

T’was the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ” Holiday “.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace  

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate “Winter Break” under your “Dream Tree”
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, 

not  Happy  Holiday!

Argh!

·          Christmas is not in any danger. If anything, it’s taking over the world. Ramadan passed several weeks ago without much notice in the United States. Hanukkah’s going on right now. Did you know? Hard to tell around here, I assure you. But EVERYONE (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and atheists alike) knows that Christmas is coming in exactly 20 days. You can’t miss it.

·          The stores may not be using the word “Christmas” outright as much as they used to, although I don’t really see much difference from when I was a child. Still, is there any mistaking all those decorated trees, the big guy with the white beard and red clothes, and the shepherds gathered around a baby in a manger as anything other than Christmas décor?

·          I’m always amused by the conservatives who get irritated by what retailers do during the holidays anyway. Aren’t conservatives all about letting the “free market” regulate itself? Well, isn’t that what the retailers are doing? They’re just following the needs and wants of their customers. You want a free market, folks, this is what you get.

·          I still say “Merry Christmas” to lots of people. And I hear it back from a lot of people. There is no law against saying “Merry Christmas,” and there never should be; however, I would no sooner wish my Muslim students a “Merry Christmas” than they would have wished me a “Happy Ramadan.” To do so would be insensitive and rude, not to mention downright stupid. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with common courtesy.

·          Government offices have to be sensitive because they deal with ALL citizens. In addition, we have this pesky Constitution in the United States that is supposed to separate church and state. It was written by Christian men because they were worried about protecting Christianity. Christians seem to forget that, though, whenever the Constitution keeps them from getting what they want. Like a Nativity on the statehouse lawn. Can you imagine the uproar if someone tried to put a copy of the Koran or the Talmud on the statehouse lawn? To keep things fair, we just don’t allow any religious holiday décor in our government offices. Just like kindergarten, folks. If there’s not enough for everyone, no one should have any.

·          As for the schools, I can’t speak for all of them. But my son’s school is doing all sorts of activities for the Christmas season. They’re going on a field trip to our Children’s Museum which is celebrating winter holidays. They’re having a party the day before the break. They didn’t do any of that during Ramadan. Hanukkah will be over by the time the school celebrates. Maybe they don’t call these events “Christmas” activities, but who’s fooling who? I like the approach our school system is taking. They are using the winter holidays as an opportunity to teach students about different cultures and traditions. They’re talking about all the holidays, and they’re studying the way people in other countries celebrate them. It is a school after all, not a church. I’ll teach my children the meaning of Christmas at home or in Sunday School, thank you very much!

·          These people who get all in a tizzy about what they perceive as an “attack on Christmas” seem to me to be extremely self-absorbed and negative. Have they really looked around? Christmas is everywhere. Maybe we don’t say the downtown monument is decorated in Christmas lights, but those lights would NOT be there if it weren’t for Christmas. The Jewish residents of Indianapolis aren’t complaining about the holly and tinsel and twinkle lights. What do Christians have to complain about? Do Christians have to advertise their faith as well as their holiday trappings? For me, faith is a personal thing. I don’t feel the need to run around shoving my personal religious convictions in other people’s faces. I have my nativities in my home. I read the scripture to my children in my home. We sing Christmas carols IN OUR HOME. Sense a theme? The true meaning of Christmas cannot and SHOULD NOT be institutionalized, commercialized, advertised. Personally, I don’t want to see it in a store window or on a courthouse lawn. In the words of Charles Dickens, keep Christmas in your heart.  That is its true place.

·          My favorite conservative Christian uproar, though, has to be over the use of “X-Mas.” The fact that they’re offended by it exposes their ignorance about the history of their own faith. X is the Greek letter chi. When early Christians wanted to celebrate Christmas, they had to be careful not to let the anti-Christian authorities know. They used X-mas as an abbreviation to disguise their holiday. In modern times, the English letter X has taken different meanings. Good Christians who know their history, though, should not be confused by the term.

·          According to the ultimate hardliner conservative Christian, Oliver Cromwell, Christmas should not be celebrated at all. It is a decadent, frivolous holiday with too many origins in Pagan celebrations. When he and his religious reformers took over England in the early 1600’s, they outlawed Christmas altogether (An Outlaw Christmas, history.com).

Christmas is a wonderful holiday, and I love it. Most of my family and friends celebrate it. Even my agnostic husband likes Christmas and does not object to our creches, the angel on our tree or the reading of the book of Luke. We keep Christ in Christmas in our home where He belongs. No, thanks, but I’d rather not see Him in Wal-Mart or at Starbucks. I prefer to keep Him close.

Senator Larry Craig (R-Id) is reconsidering his decision to resign his Senate seat after a telephone call from Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa). If you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple weeks, Craig was arrested in Minneapolis for soliciting sexual favors from an undercover police officer in an airport men’s room (AP, 9/5/07). The arrest occurred in June, but Craig managed to keep it quiet for a couple months. In August, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. Under pressure from the Republican Party, Craig announced his resignation this week.

Maybe. Now he’s changed his mind. He says the only mistake he made was pleading guilty.

Whatever.

Despite the damage President Bush and his administration have inflicted on our Constitutional rights over the past six and a half years, an American is still considered innocent until proven guilty. So even if Craig did plead guilty, I allow that he may be an innocent citizen. Fine. His judgment, however, is lousy, and I see no reason to support his bid to remain a U.S. senator.

First, Craig’s supporters contend that he was just “in the wrong place at the wrong time” (AP, 9/5/07). I’m sure there were a lot of men in that airport restroom who were not arrested in that sex sting. The police were not just arresting every guy in there. He had to be doing SOMETHING to get their attention. Even if he wasn’t soliciting sex, he wasn’t behaving like all the other men who walked out of there without handcuffs. Poor judgment.

Second, if you’re a U.S. senator who has been a supporter of family views as well as a vocal opponent of pro-homosexual legislation and you get arrested for something like this, why on earth would plead guilty at all? Especially if you were innocent? This man’s supposed to be intelligent, politically-savvy and educated in the ways of the American legal system. Pleading guilty is obviously not the way to go if you’re innocent.

Finally, an American lawmaker should be a good decision-maker. After all, they are entrusted with many big decisions that affect the lives of millions of people in this nation, billions of people all over the world. After 27 years in office, I would think that Senator Craig would have a lot of experience in examining the facts, weighing the options, making the big decision and sticking with it. So when faced with this disastrous moment in his own little career, he flakes out? He announced his resignation Tuesday and just a day later, he changes his mind?

I find it sad that Senator Specter felt the need to make that phone call. Is Larry Craig really the best we can do? Is this the kind of person we need in our Senate? I know hundreds of people who have never been arrested, never had to plead guilty to anything. Even if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, they had the good sense to keep their mouths shut. I also know many people who behave in ways that consistently uphold the values they espouse. If they say they support family values, they would always make decisions that support their claim. If they say they are innocent, they would behave innocently. And I know a lot of people who stand by their decisions, even when they’re difficult, complicated or challenged by others.

Basically, I know a lot of people who would make better senators than Larry Craig, people of whom the Republican Party could be quite proud.

Innocent or guilty, Craig is a flaky hypocrite with poor judgment. Surely we don’t need him in the Senate.

Some people tell me I shouldn’t get so worked up about what the federal government’s up to. After all, most of that stuff doesn’t really matter in our everyday lives. Hmm…

I lost my wallet last year. Luckily, I only kept a few things in it – frequent shopper cards, a little cash, pictures of my kids. Unfortunately, I also had my and my baby girl’s Social Security cards in it.  Since I don’t often need our cards, though, I didn’t worry too much about it.

Then my husband decided to refinance our house, and because of the Patriot Act, I have to show my Social Security card to close on the refi.

So I went to my “local” Social Security office. It’s a 30-minute drive to a neighborhood that I wouldn’t exactly call safe. I had to have my kids with me since the office closes at 4pm. I knew right away it’d be a disaster. There were big signs posted on the front door – no food, no cell phones, no guns. So I left the McDonald’s Happy Meals I had gotten to keep my children quiet in the car; I turned off my cell phone, and I tried to reassure my 6-year-old that he need not worry about guns. (He saw the picture on the door and freaked out a bit.)

Once inside, things just got worse. There were about 60 people packed into a 200-square-foot room. I took a number – A31 – and we sat down. That’s when I noticed yet another sign: Keep your children quiet and under control so we can conduct business privately and without interruption. Right. I’ll explain that to my 2-year-old who is already running around checking things out.

I started filling out my application only to discover that I needed my parents’ Social Security numbers. I have no idea what those are, and my parents are on vacation in the Cascades. Besides I can’t use my cell phone to try to get hold of them anyway, remember?

After ten minutes, the irritable clerk finally called a number – A26. Hurray, there were only five people in front of us. Another fifteen minutes and they called A27. By now, my son is whining about the wait and bouncing up and down in his chair, annoying the very large man next to him with lots of rather graphic tattoos and a bolt in his nose. I was trying to keep my daughter entertained, but she was not having it.  She kept wiggling out of my lap and taking off. Every time I would catch her, she’d shriek, and I’d get dirty looks from the clerk. So after waiting about thirty minutes, I gave up.

I bid farewell to the pictures of George W. and Dick Cheney that were looming over our chairs and walked out the door. I heard them call A28 just before the door swung shut. I’ll have to find a time to go back after we return from vacation and before we close on our mortgage. Needless to say, I won’t be taking the kids.

Who says federal government doesn’t affect our daily lives? It just helped ruin a day for me.